


First Night

by wholivesin221c



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 04:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11349864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholivesin221c/pseuds/wholivesin221c
Summary: set right after The End of the World.“Come on then,” said the Doctor “No more adventures today.”Rose opened her mouth to protest but another yawn came out. “Fine” she gave in “so where do I sleep.” He smiled...





	First Night

“So it really is always that dangerous,” said Rose as they sat on a park bench picking at the chips they had bought. The Doctor just smiled as he scanned Rose’s face in the fading light of a closing day for signs that he had scared her off on their first go. 

“Do you want me to take your home?” asked the Doctor doing his best to not let his desire for her to stay leak into his voice. 

“Nah, you can’t get rid of me that easy.” Rose smiled touching her tongue to the outside of her teeth. Relieved the Doctor took the last of the chips, shoved them into his mouth, wiped his greasy hand on his pants, and held out his hand to his smiling new companion.

“Come on then, Rose Tyler, there is a whole universe out there just waiting for you to see.” She took his hand with a laugh and they started to run back to the TARDIS. 

When they arrived Rose leaned against a blue side of the TARDIS while the Doctor inserted the key into the lock and walked inside. Rose followed the Doctor who was already tinkering with the knobs and levers that somehow controlled their journey through time and space. Rose sat down in the only chair in the control room. There was stuffing coming out of a hole in the seat and there was a spring that would poke you in the back if you really tried to relax into it. Despite this, Rose curled up in it like a contented cat and started picking at the hole as the TARDIS engines vworp’ed into action. 

The Doctor peeked over the controls at Rose. He felt an unusual attachment to this girl. He had told himself that after what he had seen (after what he had done) he did not deserve anything but loneliness. But from the moment he had taken Rose’s hand in that department store and said “run!” something deep inside had started to mend together. The horrors of the war didn’t haunt his waking steps as much these past few days which were lighted by her smile.

The Doctor was called out of his thoughts when Rose yawned. ‘Stupid Doctor’ he chided himself mentally. Of course Rose needed to sleep

“Come on then,” said the Doctor “No more adventures today.” 

Rose opened her mouth to protest but another yawn came out. “Fine” she gave in “so where do I sleep.” He smiled throwing one more lever into place and started strutting towards one of the hallways that broke off from the control room. Rose jumped off the chair and followed the Doctor down one of the hallways. 

There were many rooms down this hallway. They passed an open kitchen and an archway to a library; Rose stuck her head into each one. She was always careful to keep the Doctor within sight. However soon open rooms turned into a row of doors. Rose stopped in front of the first door which was the color of a cloudless summer sky. A little above her eye level was an intricate circle pattern. Rose paused and traced her finger in and around the grooves and ridges that made the circle. She almost felt like if she looked at it long enough some meaning would come to her. 

She didn’t realize how long she had stood there mesmerized until Rose heard the Doctor’s footsteps coming back toward her. She let her hand drop slowly away from the surface that was neither wood nor metal. She looked up when the Doctors footsteps stopped right next to her. She saw a flicker of sadness and pain come across his face and then it smoothed into emotionlessness. 

He held out his hand and said in a guarded tone “Come with me, your room is this way.” She took it and was almost pulled along until she matched the Doctors quick pace. They passed many more doors only distinguishable from the hallway by their different colors.

When the Doctor finally did let go of her hand they were in front of yet another door it seemed fairly plain it was white and didn’t have anything carved into it. When Rose looked at the knob however she smiled. It was a beautiful silver rose. She laid her hand on the knob and was surprised by its soft warmth. She withdrew her hand slightly they reached out again to let her fingers pass lightly over the petals. Rose turned toward the Doctor her face full of wonder. The Doctor just motioned for her to go on his face still an emotionless mask. Rose turned the rose and opened the door.

The room was spacious; it was almost as big as her entire apartment. Despite its size, it exuded a cozy charm and a comfortable beauty. Rose could feel the space calling to her like she had always belonged here. The Queen-sized bed was made up with thick, fluffy pillows and blankets. Next to the bed was a nightstand with a lamp and a vase with a single yellow rose. Its vibrancy contrasted handsomely with the soft pink walls. Rose walked in, almost on tiptoe, mouth wide open in awe. She turned towards the doorway. The Doctor was leaning against its frame arms crossed in front of his chest a smug, satisfied grin plaster on his face. Rose was almost happier to see that grin than she was with the room. Something in her heart had begun to whisper that she had always belonged alongside this strange man as well.

“I’m not even going to ask how you did it, but this!” she spun in a circle arms outstretched. “This is perfect!” She walked towards the Doctor she put her hands on his shoulders, reached up, and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.” Surprised passed over his face. Rose turned back around to hide her flushed cheeks and to explore her new surrounding further. Her tiredness forgotten for the moment.

“The TARDIS did most of the work I just picked out a few of the details,” the Doctor said recovering his voice as Rose breathed in the smell of the flower on the nightstand. As she moved to the closet the Doctor reached up and touched the spot on his cheek where Rose’s lips had been. Memories and feelings of lifetimes ago came back to him and seemed to shift and settle onto this one small, soft, human. He had never planned to feel this way again but here she was changing him without even trying, making him feel again. He gathered all these new yet old feelings back inside him. Rose had now explored every inch of her new room including her personal bathroom. “Well, Rose, I better bid you goodnight.” He said. He really hoped that she hadn’t known him long enough to detect the hint of regret in the words.

“Goodnight Doctor,” she said. Was that a hint of regret in her voice? He turned to go and was just closing the door behind him when he heard her call him back. “Doctor, do you have a room?” The question took him by surprise and because he didn’t have a quick reply prepared she started talking again. “Sorry, I don’t mean to offend you or anything but do Time Lord’s sleep?”

“Yes, I have a room. And sometimes. I don’t need sleep as much as you lot.” Rose nodded and the Doctor observed the coloring of her hair against her cheek as she turned back toward her bed. “Goodnight Doctor. Sleep well.” 

“Sweet Dreams, Rose Tyler.” He closed the door and walked down the hall towards the control room. 

He passed the many colored doors at a more leisurely pace than he had when bringing Rose down the hall. Some of the names carved into the doors in Gallifrayian caught his eye. “Sarah Jane”, “Romana.” Since the end of the War, he had walked these halls many, many times. He hadn’t slept at all since the Burning of the Citadel. If felt like every time he closed his eyes he saw faces, scared faces, all of them running. Some, like him, fought in the War to End All Wars. He could still hear their screams and the cry of “Exterminate.”

He remembered clearly one girl, just a child, running. Tears still making tracks down her dirty face. He was caught in the memory of The Dalek chasing her, The Doctor chasing the Dalek. He hadn’t been fast enough. The Dalek got to her first and in a flash of light and its hideous battle cry of “Exterminate” it shot the girl. The Doctor remembered running past the Dalek reaching the girl as the glow of her first regeneration engulfed her form. He ran with her so that the Dalek couldn’t shoot again as she regenerated. He knew that technically she would be okay but no child should have to endure the pain of regeneration. No one should have to lose themselves at that age only to be reborn into a world of war where death and destruction are too commonplace.

The Doctor’s feet had carried him to the last door. The door that had so fascinated Rose. He laid his palm against the old carving. It was a name written in the script of his people. Susan. And as he touched her name he searched for the guilt, sadness, and pain that were always so near in this body. Instead, his mind called up the image of Rose’s hand stroking the door and his cheek seemed to burn. The warmth spread out along his entire frame with it a strange sense of peace filled him.

He didn’t head to the control room as he had planned to. Normally, he would sit in the chair debating with himself whether it was worth it to rip apart the fabric of time just to save one of those souls on his planet that was lost to war. However, tonight he traced his name in Gallifrayian onto the plain wall exactly opposite Susan’s door. A new door then shimmered into existence. 

He walked into this room’s deep blue embrace. Its ceiling was patterned with constellations he would never see again in real life. A big black bed sat waiting in the center of the room. The room wasn’t as big as the one the TARDIS had prepared for Rose but it served his needs. He sat down on the edge of the bed then hopped back up and paced the room glaring at the bed as if its soft comforter had personally offended him. He knew he had deprived himself of sleep too long. When he finally gave in and climbed under the blankets. He had just enough time to remember the warmth of Rose’s hand in his before his brain shut down sending him into the sweet oblivion of a dreamless sleep.


End file.
